As it stands now, it looks like Kanye West's Christianity-themed new album will actually be arriving on Friday to a level of discourse that's certain to keep us all exhausted through at least early Monday morning.
Wednesday night, West fans who are down with this career detour hit the Forum in the Los Angeles County city of Inglewood for a pre-release screening of Jesus Is King and an early listen of the album of the same name.
Surprisingly, the album turned out to be a wholly atheistic work featuring Anton LaVey samples and a Marilyn Manson verse. Just kidding. As those on the ground at Wednesday night's event have confirmed even further than additional reports from previous Jesus-y events, this era of West is indeed Christian as hell.
While (most) attendees had their phones locked away in Yondr bags, Billboard and others were still able to offer an insider's glimpse for those interested. Among the highlights of the Nick Knight-directed film portion, per the magazine's report, were "clips of a baby, white flowers, a mountain range with tumbling clouds, and a deer running through grass."
The Face adds that West collaborators including Kevin Parker of Tame Impala and Travis Barker of blink-182 were in the building for the event, which also saw West play portions of the seemingly impending album. Inside, Variety notes that the venue had been transformed "into a prairie, reminiscent of one of his outdoor Sunday Services."
As for the album, Wednesday night reports point to the Kim Kardashian-dedicated "Closed on Sundays" (which does indeed reference popular Christian chicken provider Chick-fil-a) and the Clipse-featuring "Use the Gospel" as notable entries. Merch, which some have described as (unsurprisingly) MAGA-esque, reportedly ran as high as $170 for a crewneck shirt.
Knight, meanwhile, discussed the film portion of Jesus during an HXOUSE-presented In Conversation event with Matthew Williams earlier this week.
If the plan holds, Jesus Is King will be available worldwide on Friday.
